It’s been an amazing weekend. I feel utterly blessed and grateful. On Saturday afternoon I was on the Tesco finest interview stage at the BBC Good Food show. I had a moment of realisation as Lotte Duncan was interviewing Cyrus Todiwala before me and I saw my dad, husband, baby boy, brother, sis in law and niece waiting. Beaming. Love does funny things to you doesn’t it, seeing their faces through blurry eyes, I swelled with a lovely feeling of ‘I did that’.

Earlier that day I was in the green room. I met some wonderful people from Masterchef and The great British bake-off. Both the ex contestants/winners and presenters sat surrounding screens and munching. I thought, a lot. I thought about how brave these people are to follow their heart, to stand before a crowd of food lovers and demonstrate perfection. I thought about humility and balance in life and I saw how much of a food professionals life, heart and mind goes into delivering short and long-term. It really is different to what may people perceive.

The interview was fabulous fun. We talked about fusion food and whether it is a modern atrocity or an assault on the taste buds. We talked about my fussy boy and how he is my biggest food project and we chuckled about fishing food out of the bra and then eating it. The audience tasted some of my festive plantain chip mix and we also considered whether it is hard to be vegetarian. We even talked about whether Brussels sprouts smell like fart and what I do to them that makes them gorgeous! You know that I stuff them in a curry.

Today I am shattered. I walked around in heels the entire day and twice around the producers section eating my way through fabulous chocolate, wonderful macaroons and oils with cheeses. All I wanted today was food that real people like to eat, cuddles with my boy and the telly. I am back in leggings rather than a bodycon dress and my hair is back up.

I love this soup because it’s a whole meal; it’s hot, has a bite, has tons of flavour and those dumplings are a smooth and spicy joy. We had two bowls each…see how you go.

1. To make the soup, heat the sesame oil in a deep pan and then quickly add the onion, ginger and garlic. Stir fry for a couple of minutes before adding the sweetcorn. Mix in the soy sauce and stir it well.
2. Add the vegetable stock and curry powder and then bring the soup to a simmer.
3. When the soup is boiling add the corn flour and water. Make sure you mix the corn flour with warm water because it will dissolve better. Simmer the soup for ten minutes before turning it off the heat.
4. To make the dumplings, start by making a paste from the Coriander and chilli.
5. Heat the water in a separate pan. When it is boiling add the cumin seeds then the salt and the coriander and chilli paste. Simmer for a minute and then add the ground rice or rice flour in a stream, quickly stirring with a wooden spoon. Smooth any lumps out. Let me rice flour cool until it is lukewarm.
6. To make the dumplings grease your palms and take a pinch of the rice flour and make 3-4cm sized balls. Place them onto a plate.
7. Bring the soup to a simmer again, add the dumplings and simmer for 7-8 minutes,

Serve the soup hot and fresh. It’s gorgeous.

This month I am entering this into the Credit Crunch Munch pages on Helen and Camilla’s blogs

Being a soup this has also been shared with my friends at FSF hosted by Delicieux & Eat Your Veg on each entry.

Hello lovely Helen,thanks so much for the comment. I did have an incredible day, I am so grateful. You know, when I was really young I barely spoke. My aunts and uncles would encourage chatter but I was so shy. And that was me on the stage yesterday! Oh my…

I love this soup, the dumplings are inspired by a Gujarati snack and the soup is indo-Chinese. This is the sort of stuff I really like to eat. Plus it’s easy to make. I really hope you’ll try it xx

I had just the most exhilarating experience and I couldn’t believe I was doing it! Not sure what is next to be honest, working on a mag for India…my first one. I thought they wouldn’t like fusion style of cooking, but they do! Xx

Congratulations, Deena! Sounds like you had a great day. :- Sweet corn soup was never a great favourite of mine but me thinks the dumplings may change my mind. Will try it soon. Travelling to Norway and Switzerland for work (brrrrrrr……..) and the thought of this soup should keep me warm.

Yes, Saturday was so busy…I made the soup with whatever I has in the cupboards. Sometimes quick little short cuts can make life easier and allow time for cuddles. I don’t think it compromises taste. I hope you’ll try the soup x

Hi Deena – so sorry not to have seen you on stage but I did have a fabulous day at the show yesterday – thank you SO much for the tickets. It was such a treat!. I love the idea of dumplings in the soup – not something I would do normally but will give it a go xx

Hello! It’s so good to hear from you! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment…I have to say this soup is pretty darn awesome! I made enough for four but two of us ate it all. I’m very happy with this recipe, I hope you like x

Hi Anneli, thank you so much for your lovely message. It was an exhilarating experience and I feel so blessed to have such opportunities and to have lovely people like you smiling at me in the process.

I think this is one of the best soups so far on my site, it’s really deep and full of flavours and textures. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts once you’ve tried it xxx

Hi Poppy, great to see a comment from to. I have to admit that this is one of my favourite soups. The sweetcorn soup itself is so full of flavours and I love the dumplings for depth and texture. I hope you’ll enjoy it too x

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